Corner Cafe & Deli

rating on coffee and service only, latte way too hot, service perfunctory. sweet location near the Thames.
friends ordered food on a Sunday, took 35 minutes with no warning of delay.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once inside the food, the music and the staff create fantastic surroundings. They serve the usual café fare, baguettes, baked potatoes, coffees etc which are all delicious. They have one several awards which reflect the above par standard you get in there. It’s a great place to relax and chill away from the more ‘pose-​y’ places in Barnes.

At peak times — particularly weekend lunchtimes — it’s crowded, hot, steamy and service can be slow. But the food is fantastic. The best kind of café deli food — from sandwiches & salads to big brunches and hearty lunches. And pretty family friendly too — especially since the desserts are so good.

Mortlake and East Sheen have a surprisingly small number of quality places to go for lunch. There’s the usual chains of Waitrose (terrible sandwiches), Costa and Nero (meh), but very few good independent eateries. The Corner Café has been recently refurbished and taken on new management which, as a devotee for a year beforehand, filled me with dread. Some of the fears are founded — the service can be painfully slow if they are busy, the kitchen regularly makes the dining area smell of smoke, and the prices are probably a little on the high side BUT they do serve, in my opinon, the best lunchtime food in the area (Gusto & Relish down the road is equally good but they only offer takeaway, the prices are extortionate and the staff a little ‘snooty’).
The menu has Sandwiches from £4.50 (eat-​in) and hearty, large hot meals (amazing meatballs) from £5.00. There’s a good selection of teas, coffee, fruit juices and smoothies as well as excellent home-​made cakes and pastries.
The staff are very friendly, the service is normally very good, but if you arrive at peak times (12 – 1:30) you may very well get frustrated.
Overall — it’s a fantastic little place that has a core of regulars (as well as occasional famous people — Take That, Will Young, Anneka Rice all been spotted) that, in terms of food quality, beats everything else in the area.